No more powering down

The FAA announced recently that soon we passengers will be able to use our electronic devices during take offs and landings. (Southwest already allows that -- or at least they did this past weekend.)  We won’t be able to pay the outrageous charge for the internet until we’ve climbed to 10,000 feet, but at least we won’t have to shut everything down for no reason while we wait an hour on the tarmac or circle Kennedy.

This of course is bad news for the Sky Mall. Admit it, the only time you scanned it was when you couldn’t continue reading and loving MUST KILL TV on your Kindle (was that subtle enough?).

It’s good news for passengers at a time when we don’t get much good news. Flying coach has now become the cattle car scene from DOCTOR ZHIVAGO. We’re charged for everything from luggage to pillows, blankets, food, five inches of legroom. In case of emergency I fully expect you soon will have to swipe your credit card before the oxygen masks drop down. In case of evacuation, American Airlines Platinum members exit first.

But my question is this: why was this silly rule there in the first place? Why was it necessary for safety purposes last Wednesday but not now? The reason we were always given was that if the nimrod in 36H continued to play Angry Birds or the dingbat in 22C continued to listen to Pink’s Greatest Hits the plane’s navigation system would go screwy and instead of landing in Los Angeles the jumbo jet would try to set down on Catalina. Now they’re saying that’s not true?

I’ve been on a number of charter flights with baseball teams and we never had to turn off our electronic devices. And how’s this for spitting in the face of death? Our chairs weren’t all in the upright position. Some extreme daredevils even had their tray tables down. During taxiing even! Not once did the captain come on the PA and say, “Well, due to one of you reading old text messages we now find ourselves in a no fly zone and so instead of landing in Cleveland we’ve just been attacked by two surface-to-air missiles.”

Make no mistake, I’m all for safety. And if there are legitimate reasons for shutting down devices or keeping seats in their most upright positions I’m happy to be the first one to comply. But sometimes I wonder. Yes, if there are new more improved navigation systems that eliminate any interference by electronic devices, then the revised rule makes sense. But is that the case? I’m just askin’.

Meanwhile, I plan to enjoy it as long as I can. Those Sky Mall people have powerful lobbies in Washington.